'My apologies': Elon Musk unable to meet Piyush Goyal at Tesla facility

Elon Musk was unable to meet with Piyush Goyal in person as he was unwell and could not travel to California

Tech billionaire Elon Musk expressed his apologies for not meeting Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal during the latter's visit to Tesla's manufacturing facility in California.

Earlier in the day, Goyal engaged with Indian-origin engineers and professionals and discussed India's role in contributing to the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer's growth. The minister wrote a post on X (formerly Twitter), sharing details about his visit to Tesla's facility in Fremont, California.

"Visited Tesla's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Fremont, California. Extremely delighted to see talented Indian engineers and finance professionals working at senior positions and contributing to Tesla's remarkable journey to transform mobility," he said.

Musk, however, was unable to meet with the minister in person as he was unwell and could not travel to California. "Missed Mr Elon Musk's magnetic presence and I wish him a speedy recovery," Goyal wrote.

Responding to Goyal's post on his visit to the Tesla factory, the billionaire said he was honoured by the minister's visit and said that he looked forward to a future meeting. In a post on X, Musk said, "It was an honour to have you visit Tesla! My apologies for not being able to travel to California today, but I look forward to meeting at a future date."

Goyal also said that Tesla is planning to double the number of components it imports from India. "Proud to see the growing importance of Auto component suppliers from India in the Tesla EV supply chain. It is on its way to double its component imports from India," Goyal posted on X. In September, Goyal had said that Tesla was aiming to source components worth between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion from India this year, having bought $1 billion of components last year.

In August 2021, the tech billionaire had said Tesla might build a manufacturing unit in India if it first succeeded with imported vehicles in the country. He had said Tesla wanted to launch its vehicles in India, "but import duties are the highest in the world by far of any large country!".

Reuters had earlier reported that Goyal was set to discuss Tesla's plan to manufacture a $24,000 car in India and establish charging infrastructure across the nation.